Say I Love You

Say 'I Love You' is a romantic slice of life drama that aired on TV in Japan in 2012 for 13 episodes.  The series is based on the manga of the same name.

    Mei Tachibana is a loner.  She keeps to her self, has no friends and doesn't like other people due to the meanness of school life.  Yamato Kurosawa is the most popular and sought after boy in school.  When he meets Mei for the first time he immediately becomes interested in her and forces her to take his cell number.  After she has no choice but to call Yamato for help dealing with a stalker Yamato kisses her, unofficially announcing his intentions to date her.  As the idea of the most popular boy in school being interested in her sinks in Mei must understand her own feelings and examine the way she feels about trusting other people.  On top of all that, most of the girls who wish for his attention have a hard time believing and understanding why Yamato would choose a plain and solitary girl.

    This is actually a pretty good drama.  Much of the story deals with the issues of peer pressure and self awareness that everyone goes through as teenagers.   IT doesn't paint a happy picture but instead shows how cruel and petty kids are toward one another and the problems that can arise from careless interactions.  While mostly a drama there are a handful of goofy sequences to break the thick mood. 

    There are a few small items that bugged me with the show.  The main one was Yamato's personality...his was the least realistic, eternally optimistic and patient.  It got rather tedious at times.  Another thing that was annoying was the character designs when it came to their eyes...throw back to the 90s big eye style...were they occupy half of the face.  The last episode was actually unneeded and can really be ignored.  Its more like an omake than anything else.  All in all though this was a good series that was rooted pretty firmly in the real world.  I may have really enjoyed it if the ending would have been tragic, but you can't always get what you want right?  I still was waiting for someone in the show to at least attempt to kill themselves, which happens semi frequently in Japan.  Either way, the show is worth the time if you like dramatic love stories steeped in real life issues.  They also appear to have churro in Japan now...

    The series is only currently available in North America via Crunchyroll.